A PART-TIME fireman from Barnoldswick has been sent to prison for 12 months after losing his temper and attacking a former tenant with a bar stool in a row over cash.

Burnley Crown Court heard how David Tinsley's victim - 24-year-old Jason Lonsdale - needed five stitches and was originally thought to have suffered a fractured skull.

He spent two days in hospital after he was hit from behind in a Barnoldswick club last December.

Sentencing Tinsley, the judge described the case as tragic, particularly as a senior fire officer had spoken of him as an asset to the town with a spotless career in the service.

Nevertheless Recorder Alistair Webster QC told Tinsley that, short of attempted murder, he had committed the most serious offence of violence known to English law.

Mr Webster, who said he had been considering if there was any way he could avoid sending Tinsley to prison, told the court that the defendant had been of impeccable character before the offence.

Tinsley, 30, of Park Avenue, had earlier pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

He had no previous convictions.

Mohammed Nawaz, prosecuting, said Mr Lonsdale was said to have owed Tinsley about £500.

The complainant was in the Green Street club with friends when the defendant walked towards him armed with the stool, raised it above his head and struck Lonsdale from behind.

Despite the severity of the blow, which broke the stool, Mr Lonsdale did not fall to the floor.

After the victim regained his composure he faced the defendant and there was a short struggle before they went outside to talk about money.

Tinsley told Mr Lonsdale he would do that every time he saw him unless he came up with the cash. Mr Lonsdale told Tinsley to see him the next day about the money and later went to hospital.

When the defendant was arrested a week later he said Mr Lonsdale owed him about £3,000 and had trashed his property.

Roger Baldwin, defending, said Tinsley had not sought to blame alcohol and, in the defendant's own words, he had "seriously lost his temper".

The public interest would not demand that he went to prison, said Mr Baldwin.

A custodial sentence would bring to an end his position as a retained firefighter in Barnoldswick, which was a role he valued and enjoyed and was of the utmost use to the community.

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